Anchors Aweigh
by Dani-Ellie03
Summary: Everyone was quiet for a moment as they tried to think of another way to beat the heat. It was Emma's knight in shining black leather who came to the rescue. "I could take everyone sailing," Killian offered. (or, the Charmings and Captain Swan spend a day on the high seas.)
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Anchors Aweigh  
 **Summary:** Everyone was quiet for a moment as they tried to think of another way to beat the heat. It was Emma's knight in shining black leather who came to the rescue. "I could take everyone sailing," Killian offered.  
 **Spoilers:** Up through 4x11, "Heroes  & Villains."  
 **Rating/Warning:** K+, mostly for Emma's mouth. Charming Family and Captain Swan fluff, as per usual.  
 **Disclaimer:** _Once Upon a Time_ and its characters were created by Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. I'm just borrowing them to pass time during a ridiculously long hiatus.  
 **Author's Note:** Here we have the next installment in my series of "Family Things the Charmings Never Got to Do, So They're Doing Them Now." I've missed writing these! As always, you don't have to have read the others to follow this one. Also as always, feedback is love! Enjoy. :)

* * *

"Emma Swan!"

Emma winced before turning to face a clearly annoyed Snow White. "You totally just broke out the mom voice, you realize that, right?"

The mom voice _and_ her first and last name. Wow.

It kind of freaked Emma out how that sharp edge in her mom's tone made her feel like she was about six years old and in trouble for sneaking a cookie before dinner. She was twenty-nine years old, for crying out loud. Hell, she had a kid of her own to use the mom voice on. She should be immune to the mom voice by now.

And yet.

"The refrigerator is not meant to be used an air conditioner," a mildly unamused Snow continued as she bounced a fussy Neal in her arms. "Close it right now."

The whine – yes, actual _whine_ – slipped out of Emma's mouth before she could stop herself. "But I'm _hot_."

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Henry smirking at the exchange between her and Snow from his seat on the couch. His attention was mostly focused on the game he was playing on his phone so he was clearly going to be no end of help to Emma whatsoever.

Neal's uncomfortable fussing had turned to whimpering, which typically meant he was ramping up for a crying jag. Emma's added whining, then, was very much _not_ appreciated, if the expression on Snow's face was anything to go by.

Deciding to spare her mother the aggravation, Emma heaved a sigh and pushed the fridge door closed. She said a silent prayer of remembrance for the cool air coming from the appliance before forcing herself to step away lest the temptation to open it again become too strong.

Hey, it wasn't Emma's fault that the air conditioner in the apartment had crapped out on the hottest, most humid day of the year thus far. Which wasn't exactly a hard record to beat, considering that weather like this was highly unseasonal at this point in the year. According to the weatherman, a storm forecast for the overnight hours would bring the temperature back down to normal, much to everyone's relief. Most people in town had taken this ridiculously hot day in stride by flocking to either air-conditioned buildings or the beach.

Emma wished she could take it in stride, too. Hell, she wished her whole family could.

The single window air conditioning unit was usually enough to cool off the little apartment but when Emma turned it on that morning, she discovered that the damn thing was only blowing hot air. In response, Snow and Henry had opened all the windows and David had rushed out to get a couple of fans to circulate the heavy, humid air.

Now Emma, Snow, Henry, and the little squirt were all waiting for David to return with their salvation. Everyone was hot, everyone was sweating, and _everyone_ was cranky.

Just as Emma decided to make herself a bowl of ice cream – not that she was really hungry but ice cream was cold and getting it would at least be a legitimate reason to stand in front of the open freezer for a few seconds – a knock sounded on the front door. "I'll get it," Emma said as she hurried over to the door as quickly as the heat would allow.

She whipped it open, expecting to see her dad with the fans, but instead found her pirate standing in the hallway. Her pirate who, despite the weather, had still dressed in his black pants and leather jacket. "How the _hell_ are you wearing black leather today?" she blurted out.

"It's quite lovely to see you, too, Swan," Killian replied, answering her non-greeting with one of his own. He stepped past her into the apartment, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Why, yes, I would love to come inside. Thank you for the invitation."

"Seriously with the leather?" she insisted, fully ignoring his sarcasm. "It's a million degrees outside. How have you not melted into a pirate-shaped puddle by now?"

"I believe the gentleman residing in the talking box said it was ninety degrees outside, not a million."

Emma sighed. "Okay, for one, the people on the TV don't actually _live in_ the TV … whoa, wait. You actually turned on the television and watched the weather report?"

Killian sheepishly scratched at his ear. "I, um, left the magic control wand on my bed and accidentally sat down on it. The talking box turned on and it took me a moment or two to remember which button on the wand turned the blasted thing off. In the meantime, yes, I guess I watched the weather report."

 _That's more like it_ , Emma thought, hiding an amused smirk. "I see," was all she said out loud.

She stepped towards the fridge, intent on offering Killian something cold to drink. He'd clearly walked to the apartment from Granny's, and wearing black leather in ninety-degree weather during even that short a walk was not the best of ideas. His beet-red cheeks and ears were testament to that. It was a damn miracle he'd made it all the way here without passing out from heatstroke.

And if she just so happened to linger at the open fridge just a touch longer than really necessary, so be it.

Handily avoiding Snow's indulgent glare – moms apparently missed _nothing_ – Emma poured her pirate a glass of ice water. "My thanks, love," he said as he accepted the glass. "I'm parched."

"I imagine 'parched' is an understatement," she deadpanned as she tucked the water pitcher back on the fridge shelf. With a soft whimper over what she was about to do, she once again closed the fridge door.

Goodbye, cool air.

The front door opened then and in walked her father. Emma noted with something resembling fear and panic that he was empty-handed. "Please tell me the fans you bought are in the truck and you came in to get helping bringing them upstairs," she said – oh, hell, _pleaded_.

David winced at the look on Emma's face, causing Emma's heart to sink in her chest. _Damn_ it. "Unfortunately not," he sighed as he closed the door behind himself. "Everyone else in Storybrooke apparently had the same idea. There was not a single fan to be had."

"Not even a little tiny one?" Henry asked.

"Not even a little tiny one," David confirmed. "The shelves in the fan aisle were completely empty. It was kind of scary, actually."

Emma closed her eyes for a brief moment before looking longingly at the refrigerator. She wanted to open it again but dared not incur the wrath of her mother.

Henry heaved a weary sigh and set his phone down on the coffee table. "Now what?" he asked, pushing his sweaty hair off his forehead.

"We could go to the library," Snow suggested. "The air conditioner there is working. Belle said we could stay as long as we wanted when I told her ours was on the fritz."

Emma wrinkled her nose. The second to last thing she wanted to do was spend her day in an uncomfortable old library. (The last thing she wanted to do was, of course, sit here in the sweltering apartment.)

"Or we could make a day of it," David suggested when it was apparent that neither Henry nor Emma was all that thrilled with the idea of spending the entire day at the library. "We could pack a cooler and head to the beach."

"I'm not a huge fan of the beach," Emma groaned.

 _Not a huge fan_ was something of an understatement. She'd never been to the beach much as a kid and didn't particularly care for the experience as an adult.

Everyone turned to look at her, somewhat surprised. "You go down to the water all the time when you need to think," Henry pointed out.

Yeah but that was different. "Sitting on a bench at the water isn't exactly the same thing as going to the beach, kid," she explained gently. "Beach sand gets _everywhere_. It gets in places you didn't even know you had. It gets in the food. It gets in the drinks. The salt water is sticky when it dries. It's always really hot because there's no shade. And because today is just one random hot day in Maine, the water will be like, four degrees so it's not like it's really feasible to go swimming."

Her parents, pirate, and kid all shared a stunned look. Clearly they hadn't expected her to feel so strongly about it.

Everyone was quiet for a moment as they tried to think of another way to beat the heat. It was her knight in shining black leather who came to the rescue. "I could take everyone sailing," Killian offered.

Emma whipped her head around to look at her pirate. "What?"

Killian shrugged somewhat self-consciously. "The temperature will be a bit cooler on the open sea. We can drop anchor to allow for some swimming for those who wish to partake in the activity. I know for a fact we'll be able to make use of a boat that has an awning to provide shade."

"Yeah!" Henry exclaimed, his eyes shining in excitement. "We can still pack a cooler and make a day of it! And because we won't be on the beach, the food and drinks will be sand-free! Oh, Mom, please?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw her parents exchanging a touched glance. Her own heart swelled at the sight, evidence of a growing connection between her parents and her pirate.

Then she looked Killian in the eye, wanting to make sure he understood what he was offering. Spending a day with her parents and kid and baby brother out on the open ocean was a big ask for this stage of their … oh, hell, for this stage of their relationship. "You'd really take all of us out sailing?"

"It would be my honor," he said with utter sincerity.

Well, then.

Emma glanced at her parents, who both smiled and nodded at her. They were most definitely game. Then she looked at her son and oh, sweet Jesus. Though he was growing up fast – too fast, as far as Emma was concerned – Henry was still master and commander of the Puppy Dog Eyes. She could see it in his face now; he was ramping up for Stage One.

Oh, she had to nip this in the bud right now. "Okay, all in favor of going sailing, say aye."

A chorus of ayes rang through the little apartment. Snow even held fussy little Neal's arm up as if he were raising his hand. Emma smiled, her heart fluttering in her chest at the thought of her entire family spending the day together. At the thought of her entire family _wanting_ to spend the day together.

It boggled her mind to think that less than two years prior, she'd been living in Boston with no one with whom to even share a piece of cake on her birthday. And now she had parents who loved her more than words could express. Now she had a kid she'd do anything for and a baby brother she loved with all her heart. And now she had a pirate who had given up his home to get her to hers.

It was … overwhelming.

In the best possible way, of course.

The emotion was threatening to surface, so Emma cleared her throat and turned to Killian. "All right, then, Captain. I guess you're taking us sailing."

Killian grinned and raised his eyebrows at her. Emma gave him a smirk in return; God, she hoped he realized what he'd just gotten himself into.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Once again, y'all are the best readers ever! Thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! Hope you enjoy the next part!

* * *

Having set a plan to beat the heat had alleviated some of the stress and crankiness in the little apartment. And apparently giving a twelve-year-old boy even the tiniest amount of authority went straight to his head. Killian may have been captain but thanks to their sailing trips, Henry had been his first mate too long to not start delegating orders. "I'll go down to the docks with Killian to get the boat ready," he said to his mother and grandparents. "You guys can pack up and meet us down there."

Emma arched an eyebrow at her parents, who gave her amused smiles in return. "Aye, aye, first mate," she replied with just a hint of sarcasm. Then she shifted gears to mom mode. "You need to change first, though, kid. I imagine you're going to want to go swimming at some point."

Far be it for something as inconsequential as the temperature of the water to stop a kid from swimming during a day on the ocean.

Henry glanced down at his current attire – denim shorts and a short-sleeved shirt – and smiled sheepishly. "Yep! I'll be right back." And then he was gone, dashing up the stairs to change.

Talk then turned to making sure everyone was prepared to spend a day on the ocean. Emma turned to Snow, who was swaying back and forth with a finally calm baby Neal in her arms. "Will the squirt be okay on a boat?"

"He'll be fine," Snow assured her. "I have a little puddle jumper for him. One of us will have to hold him but somehow I figure playing Pass the Baby today won't be a problem."

Emma smiled. No, it certainly wouldn't. Then something else her mother had said finally registered. "Wait, why do you already have a puddle jumper for him?"

"Living in a seaside town, I figured one could never be too prepared."

That made sense, Emma supposed. Now the question became what the hell to do about both sheriffs being on a boat for the day. Storybrooke had been unusually calm and quiet these past couple of weeks, leaving the sheriffs nothing to do but catch up on their paperwork. Still, that didn't mean local law enforcement could just take the day off without having a backup plan, just in case.

David must have figured out her silent question because he answered the second she looked at him. "The phone system at the station is already switched over to route calls to our cells." He paused, a slight frown wrinkling his brow. "Will we still be able to take calls on the boat?"

"Aye, if we stay close enough to the harbor," Killian assured him. "We'll be far enough out that it'll be quiet but not so far that we'll be out of touch."

All right, now the pirate knew about cell signals and how far out on the ocean he could go before he lost them?

He smiled when he spotted Emma arching an incredulous eyebrow. "The lad and I had previously worked out the distance at which his talking phone ... lost signal?"

Ah, so that explained it. Smirking, Emma gave him a nod to indicate that his wording had been correct.

Henry bounded down the stairs then, wearing the same T-shirt he'd had one before but with swim trunks on instead of his shorts. "All right, I'm changed," he said, his excitement over their impending adventure making him somewhat giddy. He grinned at Killian. "We should head down to the docks now to make sure we get the boat we want."

Emma had to admit, the kid had a point. In a seaside town on a sweltering hot day, they more than likely were not going to be the only family looking to rent a boat for a few hours.

Killian, apparently, saw the wisdom in the kid's words as well. "Aye, First Mate," he agreed, making both Henry and Emma smile. Then he turned to Emma and her parents with a slight bow. "We'll meet you down at the docks."

Mostly due to Henry's exuberance, they were out the door in a flash. So swiftly, in fact, that the closing of the apartment door muffled Henry's quick, "See you!"

Now all that was left was for Emma, Snow, and David to pack and catch up with them.

"Why don't you two get lunch ready while I pack towels and supplies?" Snow suggested.

That worked for Emma. It must have worked for David, too, because he nodded in agreement to his wife's plan. As Emma turned to pull cold cuts and sandwich fixings out of the fridge, Snow set little Neal down in the bassinet before heading to the bathroom to gather towels from the linen closet.

David ducked into his room and returned a moment later with the small cooler they stored in the bedroom closet. He then grabbed the loaf of bread and began setting slices out for Emma to make the sandwiches.

Emma smiled; he was making a vague assembly line, which would certainly help make this process faster. Making enough sandwiches for a day on the water for six people – well, five and a baby – was a bit of an undertaking.

Only when she opened the bag of deli turkey did Emma realize that she'd forgotten to ask Henry and Killian what they wanted to eat. Oh well, she thought with a sigh. They both liked chicken salad, so that was what they were going to get.

"Thank you for agreeing to this," Emma said before the comfortable silence between her and her dad could grow into an uncomfortable one. "It means a lot to him."

"You're welcome," David replied, a comforting smile on his lips. "It means a lot to us that he offered."

Emma abandoned her assembly-line sandwich-making to stare at her father in disbelief. She'd known her mom had finally warmed up to Killian; she'd seen it in Snow's eyes when they'd found Killian with Gold, Killian's heart in Gold's hand. She'd seen it on Snow's face, out of the corner of her eye when she and Killian both melted into each other's embrace, the sheer relief from the close call making them both weak-kneed and making them need to hold onto each other. And she'd heard it in Snow's voice when, after Belle and Gold disappeared from the clock tower, Snow had said one thing: "Stay."

With that single word, Snow had conveyed both gentle acceptance and deep understanding. Emma and Killian belonged together and right then, they didn't need to follow the fight. Right then, they needed to decompress, to just hold each other and bask in the relief together. And then, with a gentle touch of both their shoulders, Snow had left the clock tower with the intention of following Belle, not to intrude but to help the poor woman pick up the pieces following her husband's betrayal.

Oh, yes, Emma had known her mom had warmed up to her pirate but her dad?

David chuckled at the expression on her face. "I may have had my doubts at first but I can't deny how happy he makes you, Emma. You're my little girl and at the end of the day, all I really want is for my little girl to be healthy and happy. If he's the one who makes you happy, then that's good enough for me."

Well, then, there was something Emma hadn't been expecting. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and managed to give David a smile through her emotion. "Thanks, Dad."

And from the way his eyes sparkled at the name, she gathered that hearing her call him Dad was one of the highlights of his life. "You're welcome." Then his smile shifted into a somewhat sardonic smirk. "I do, however, reserve the right to do the dad thing from time to time when it comes to you and him."

For the first time, a touched Emma found herself _wanting_ her dad to do the dad thing. It was annoying, of course, because she was twenty-nine years old, for crying out loud, and had a kid of her own. The days of needing her dad to protect her from potential suitors who might take advantage had long since passed. On the other hand, she'd never had the chance to have her dad protect her and he'd never had the chance to do the protecting. That is, until now. How could she deny them both that little bit of bonding?

Of course, she couldn't exactly let that be known, so she heaved a sigh and said, "Of course you do."

Still, she was smiling.

Snow returned then with Neal's diaper bag hooked over her shoulder, along with another bulging tote. "We didn't exactly have boat day supplies so I packed beach day supplies, figuring it was close enough. We've got Neal's little puddle jumper, towels, sunscreen, sunglasses, and reading material. Oh, and I threw in our box of Dramamine, just in case."

Emma smirked at that last bit. Killian had never mentioned Henry being seasick during their previous sailing trips. And if none of the adults had been seasick on the journey to Neverland, they weren't likely to be now.

Then again, her mom was a mom, and she probably figured it was better to be safe than sorry. "Sounds like a plan," she said with a soft smile.

Smiling at her daughter's agreement, Snow set the bags down on the kitchen table. After a quick peek in on Neal proved that he was still perfectly content in the bassinet, she joined her husband and daughter at the counter.

The three of them were able to make the dozen sandwiches in no time at all. By the time they were finished, they had six chicken salad sandwiches, four turkey, and two ham and cheese – David's request. As Emma and David worked on getting the sandwiches tucked in plastic bags, Snow dug the tub of pasta salad out of the fridge and managed to find a miraculously unopened bag of sour cream and onion chips in the pantry.

"We'll have to swing by the store on the way to the harbor to pick up ice and drinks," Snow said as she handed the items to David, who'd begun packing the cooler. "It'll be easier to just grab a case of bottled water while we're getting the ice than it would to pull what we have out of the fridge."

"Right," Emma agreed, though she was mentally making a note to sneak some root beer in the cooler as well. And Killian would have his flask, of course, in case the need or desire arose for something stronger.

Once David shut the cooler lid with a satisfying thud, Emma glanced down at her own attire. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, which since she had no desire to go swimming – because the water temperature mattered to her even if it didn't matter to Henry – should be fine.

Although …

With a wicked grin, she turned to her parents. "I'm going up to change. I'll be right back."

She had no idea if today was the right time for something like this. Hell, maybe the heat had finally gone to Emma's head but she had just gotten an idea, one that was certain to surprise her pirate and hopefully drive him out of his mind.

In the best way possible, of course.

For in her bottom drawer was a one-piece swimsuit she'd worn maybe twice in her life. (Again, she didn't particularly care for the beach and it wasn't like she'd had a lot of friends to go hang out with in pools.) That bathing suit was going to get its third use today.

Under her clothes, of course, because part of her plan to drive her pirate bonkers was waiting for the right moment to reveal it. Even the thought of the inevitable overprotective-dad glaring David would surely do couldn't dissuade her.

Once she was dressed again, she grabbed the book she was in the middle of reading off her nightstand and headed downstairs to rejoin her parents, all the while snickering to herself. This? Was going to be _fun_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** I know less than nothing about sailboats. What you see described below is the result of some quick Googling and then describing things vaguely enough to get the point across. So, y'know, don't rely on anything you see below, is my point. :)

* * *

Waiting for her parents to change and then getting a full cooler, an overstuffed tote, an overflowing diaper bag, and a sweating baby who was annoyed with his removal from his bassinet down to the truck took a bit more maneuvering than Emma anticipated. Add that to the fact that David had purchased the last two bags of party ice in Mr. Clark's freezer, and it was a miracle Emma, her parents, and her baby brother made it to the docks as quickly as they did.

As soon as David pulled the truck into a parking space at the marina, Emma searched the moored boats for her wayward pirate captain and his first mate. At first, she couldn't find them. There was no sign of activity on any of the small sailboats still in their slips.

Only after she climbed out of the truck, hooked the tote of beach supplies over her shoulder, grasped the diaper bag, and turned back towards the slips did she spot her guys. They were walking the deck of a gleaming white thirty-five-foot sailboat, readying the vessel for her day at sea. As promised, a blue awning stretched out over the seating area on deck.

Emma let out a low whistle; that boat had to have cost Killian a pretty penny, even on a daily rental basis.

A couple of his doubloons, at any rate.

The vessel he often borrowed to take Henry sailing was a loaner from Leroy, much smaller than the boat he and Henry had chosen for this little adventure. Too small, really, for four adults, a twelve-year-old boy, and a baby, which must have been what necessitated the rental of a bigger boat this morning.

A _much_ bigger boat. It was a bigger boat than they probably needed but Emma was touched anyway.

"You didn't have to do this, Killian," she called to him after he'd spotted her. She approached the boat and looked up at her grinning pirate. "This thing is a damn _yacht_."

"Aye, she's probably more boat than we really need but now we'll all have the room to stretch out and relax."

There was a gleam in his eye, one Emma had only seen a couple of times before. Once on the way to Neverland and then again on the way home.

And all at once, she got it. Leroy's boat was better than nothing, of course, and Killian was obviously grateful for the opportunities to borrow it for an afternoon here and there. That said, Killian could probably sail Leroy's boat in his sleep. A vessel this big, though … that would allow him to stretch his captain's legs a bit more.

Emma smiled knowingly at her pirate, and he smiled back somewhat sheepishly.

"Permission to come aboard?" she asked, deciding let that thread drop for the time being.

"Of course, love." Killian held his hand out to her. She grasped his hand for stability as she stepped from the dock onto the boat, her grip tightening as the boat rocked underneath her. "You'll find your sea legs in a bit," he murmured to her.

She gave him a sheepish smile. It had taken her a moment or two to find her sea legs on the trip to Neverland as well.

"The cabin and galley are downstairs, Mom, if you want to put the bags down," Henry called from the front of the boat, where he was coiling rope – er, line – in preparation to set sail. "There's even a bathroom!"

"He's fascinated by the head," an amused Killian whispered.

Emma chuckled. Kids; they tended to be fascinated by bathrooms in unexpected places. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure her parents were managing okay with the cooler and the baby – check on both counts – and then headed below decks to check out said cabin, galley, and bathroom.

The spaces were serviceable but small, too small for Emma to really feel comfortable in for very long. Of course, her only frame of reference was the _Jolly Roger,_ whose rooms were mansion rooms compared to these. Still, the space below decks was more than sufficient for their needs. Keeping the cooler and bags out of the sun would leave more room on deck, and it wasn't like they were going to be spending a lot of time down here during their little day trip anyway, unless they needed to make use of the restroom.

Emma emerged back up on deck, sunglasses on and sunscreen in hand, just as Killian was helping David and Snow onto the boat. Snow quickly took a seat on one of the long padded benches to rock Neal, who'd almost been asleep in the car and once again hadn't taken kindly to being moved. Emma handed her mother the sunscreen – Snow was just going to ask for it anyway so why delay the inevitable – and helped her father get the cooler down into the galley.

When the two of them returned to the deck, Henry announced that they were ready to set sail. David settled next to Snow and the squirt and Emma took a seat on the bench across from them, positioning herself so she could watch both Killian at the helm and Henry at the mast.

Only after everyone was seated comfortably did the kid raise the sails, and then they were off.

The look of sheer contentment on Killian's face was nothing short of magic. The slight tension in his shoulders even relaxed as he kept his eye on the horizon, charting a course through the water that Emma couldn't possibly see.

Unable to resist the urge, Emma pushed herself to her feet and crossed the deck to stand next to her pirate. He smiled at her the second she entered his personal space, which she took as an invitation to sidle even closer to him and rest her head on his shoulder.

A content smile of her own curled onto Emma's lips as Killian slung his arm around her shoulders and sailed her and her family out to sea.

After about a twenty-minute journey, Killian turned the wheel while calling a command to Henry, who did … something to the sails. (Emma had no idea what he was doing, but it was clear Henry did.) The boat slowed to a stop and then Henry dropped anchor. "Any further than this and we risk not being able to make use of the talking phones," Killian explained to Emma.

She nodded, then glanced over her shoulder. The Storybrooke harbor was nothing more than a dot along the horizon. The sea was calm and the boat rocked in the gentle waves. The breeze coming off the water was blissfully cool and the awning stretched out over them kept the hot sun from beating down directly on them.

 _Oh yeah_ , Emma thought as smiled up at her pirate, _this was the best idea ever_.

* * *

A mom through and through, Snow made everyone put on sunscreen. _Everyone_ , even Killian, who had less than no idea what purpose the white cream served. "No one is getting sunburns on my watch," was all she'd said when the pirate shot her a quizzical frown.

Emma gave a slight roll of her eyes and sighed softly. She was reasonably sure that a pirate was well aware of how to prevent sunburn without the aid of sunscreen, considering that being out on the open ocean and under the hot sun was part and parcel of the job description.

Still, when Killian shifted his quizzical gaze to her, she simply shrugged, her way of telling him to humor her mother.

Since Henry had stripped off his T-shirt for the sunscreen application, he decided that now was as good a time as any to get on with the swimming part of the day. He glanced up at Emma questioningly, and at her nod, grinned. "Thanks, Mom!"

Emma and her parents watched with amusement as he climbed down the ladder to the little ledge at the boat's stern. He stuck a tentative foot in the water, most likely to gauge the temperature, only to pull it back with a hiss.

"What's the matter?" David asked, swiftly standing from his seat on the cushioned bench.

"It's _cold_ ," came Henry's disappointed little voice.

Hiding a smirk, David sat back down. No danger, then, just temperature shock.

It was that sheer disappointment that stopped Emma from giving the kid an I told you so. The water temperature was, after all, one of the reasons she hadn't wanted to go to the beach.

And it was that sheer disappointment that forced her to her feet and made her approach the ladder.

She wanted to try something.

"Excuse me for a sec, kid," she said as she joined her son on the little ledge, well aware that she'd aroused the curiosity of everyone on the boat. Henry shifted over a couple of steps to give her room and watched with barely concealed confusion as she sat down on the ledge.

Only after she sat down did she realize that she probably should have changed out of her shorts for this. The ledge was wet and she'd just plopped down in a sun-warmed puddle.

Oh well. Maybe she'd just have to reveal her surprise to Killian a touch earlier than she would have liked.

Holding a deep breath, Emma lowered both of her feet into the water. She had to work hard to resist the instinct screaming at her to _get your feet out of the frigidness right now, for the love of all things good in the universe_.

Henry wasn't kidding; the water _was_ cold. It was probably warmer at the shore where the sun could penetrate down to the sand. Here on the open ocean, though, what little warmth the sun was able to give the water didn't last very long or penetrate very deep.

The water, then, needed a different kind of warmth.

It was something she'd been trying to get a handle on under Elsa's supervision, something she hadn't even managed to master with water in a glass, never mind water in the ocean. Still, she wanted to try.

It took a moment for both of Emma's feet to acclimate to the icy feel of the water – or go numb, she supposed. She didn't actually know if she needed to have contact with the water while she did this but Elsa had been trying to teach her with her index finger in the glass, so she figured there was probably something to that.

And then Emma closed her eyes and focused on her magic. It started, as always, with butterflies flitting in her stomach. Those butterflies generated a warmth that spread throughout her entire body, simultaneously relaxing her and making her feel like she could accomplish anything she desired.

Remembering Elsa's instructions, Emma then channeled that warmth downward. She felt it retreating somewhat, a kind of non-painful fire racing from her arms to her legs, leaving behind just a trace of that comforting warmth as it moved.

It was time.

She opened her eyes just in time to see a flash of white light ripple outward from around the boat about fifteen feet in all directions. Almost tentatively, she leaned forward and dipped her hand into the now blissfully warm water.

Then she stood and grinned at a wide-eyed Henry. "You should be all set now, kid."

From the cushioned bench on deck, a proud Snow said, "You warmed the water for him, didn't you."

It wasn't a question. Emma turned to look her mother in the eye and nodded proudly.

Henry continued to gape at her for another beat and then a wide grin curled onto his lips. "That? Was _awesome_!"

Then his grin turned mischievous and he cannonballed off the ledge, successfully splashing his mother with a spray of that magically warmed water. "Gotcha!" he snickered when he surfaced.

Even as she heard the amused snickers coming from her parents and pirate, Emma shot her kid a mischievous grin of her own and began formulating her plan for revenge. The kid most definitely had it coming now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Thank you, Dutchwriter, for the boat info! That helps a lot! My only boat experiences are ferries, a couple of harbor cruises, and one deep sea fishing trip with work (where I became quite seasick), so I was mostly relying on pics I found on Google Images, haha. Also, because I don't think I've said it yet: you guys are the best. :)

* * *

The young, immature part of Emma longed to leap into the water after her kid in a cannonball blitz attack of her own. The responsible, adult part of her, however, had no desire to get any wetter than she already was. What she needed was another plan, one that would still allow her to get her revenge while remaining dry.

The way she figured it, there were two ways to really mess with a twelve-year-old boy. One of those ways involved tampering with the kid's food, which she was not about to do. Food was sacred and messing with it was, as Killian would say, extremely bad form.

The other way … well, suffice it to say that she'd managed to find a way to merge both her plan to drive Killian crazy and her revenge on Henry into one (rather kickass, if she did say so herself) master plan.

There was, of course, her father's inevitable overprotective-dad glaring to consider but she'd come up with too perfect an idea to worry about that little hitch just now.

Content her with her plan, she turned to climb up the ladder only to have another spray of magically warmed water hit her in the back. She whirled around – catching her parents' and Killian's amused smiles as she did so – to find her cheeky kid treading water and grinning at her, a Super Soaker in his hand that she was ninety-eight percent sure he hadn't had when he leaped into the water.

"Where did you get that?" she asked him.

"Grandpa," Henry shrugged, a mischievous grin on his lips.

Emma turned a teasing glare on her father, who simply shrugged innocently. "Hey, now, I just threw it down to him. What he chose to do with it was all on him."

She had no idea how she'd missed the Super Soaker flying over her head … unless David had just dropped it off the side of the boat while she was facing Henry and then Henry had quickly swum for it when she turned to climb up the ladder.

As for her father's involvement … well, needless to say, Emma no longer felt at all bad about her master revenge plan.

No matter how Henry had gotten his hands on the squirt gun, he'd just opened fire. And opening fire meant war.

Fueled now by a soldier's sense of justice, the young, immature part of Emma wanted revenge. But she still didn't leap into the water. Instead, she began focusing her magic. The butterflies flitted, the warmth spread, and Emma grinned to herself.

Henry stared at her for a moment, as if preparing himself for her to leap into the water with him. When he realized she didn't intend to join him, he grinned and pointed the Super Soaker right at her. "Don't even think about it," she warned him.

He was _her_ kid. Of course he thought about it.

As soon as his trigger finger twitched, Emma was ready with a little magical arsenal of her own. She concentrated and a jet of water shot up from beside Henry and then drenched him on its way back down. "No fair using magic!" he cried, laughing.

"No fair using squirt guns I didn't even know you had," she retorted.

They continued to fight – plastic water gun versus magical water cannon – until Emma had drained her magical energy reserve. "All right, kid, enough," she said as she plopped down on the boat's ledge, leaving her legs dangling in the water.

"Aw, come on, Mom," Henry cried. He must have been able to read her exhaustion on her face because he sobered quickly and swam up to the ledge himself. "It's okay. I'm getting a little chilly anyway."

Emma smiled at her kid. He was indeed being sweet but little did he know she still had part of her revenge plan to enact.

For a long moment, the two of them just sat on the ledge, their legs in the water. Emma was at least trying to let her clothes dry a touch before heading back up on deck. Henry, she figured, was just keeping her company.

"You said salt water is sticky when it dries," he said apologetically to her after a long, quiet beat.

She sighed. "It is." _Damn_ it.

"Maybe there's a little shower or something in the bathroom," Henry offered.

Emma highly doubted it but she could check. "Maybe," she said, smiling at him.

Once she'd drip-dried as much as she could, Emma pushed herself to her feet and climbed the ladder back up to the deck. A smirking Snow handed her a towel. "Thanks," she said before running the towel over her face.

"You're welcome," Snow replied as she handed a passing Henry a second towel.

The little hint of amusement in Snow's voice brought Emma up short. She looked at her mother to find both knowing comprehension and mirth dancing in Snow's eyes. She'd clearly figured out her daughter's plan … and completely approved.

Henry then ducked down below decks, presumably to get either his reading material or his phone. Which was pretty dang perfect timing, if Emma did say so herself.

Emma set the towel down on the cushioned bench across from her parents and her baby brother, who was nestled in his father's arms. Then she stripped off her soaked shorts and drenched shirt, revealing the dark purple swimsuit she had on underneath her clothes.

As she expected, Killian froze in place and actually did a double-take. Also as expected, David narrowed his eyes, first at Emma and then at Killian.

She and Snow shared an indulgent smile and roll of their eyes. So predictable, their boys.

For her part, Emma went right about her business, laying her clothes out in the sun to dry. Killian was probably going silently _crazy_ , which was of course the point. Then she stepped up to her father and asked, "Could I hold the squirt for a little bit?"

Her amusement must have been apparent on her face because David's cheeks flushed as he cleared his throat so as not to sound like … well, like an overprotective dad. "I think he'd like that," he said, smiling down at his son and then up at his daughter.

Sure enough, the squirt's big blue eyes had locked on Emma the second he heard her voice. She smiled as David passed her the baby. "Hey, squirt," she said, looking down at his little face.

She crossed the deck and eased down on the towel-covered bench. A still dumbstruck Killian finally managed to make himself move from the middle of the deck to sit down next to her, across from a vaguely scowling David. "Let me guess," Emma said teasingly to her pirate, "you guys didn't have bathing suits in the Enchanted Forest."

It took him a moment to find his voice, which just amused Emma even more. "None like that, no."

Emma smirked. She'd pretty much banked on that.

For a long beat, the four of them sat quietly. Then Snow excused herself to duck below decks to retrieve the reading material for her and David. She gave Emma a surreptitious wink, which made Emma swallow a snicker. Snow actually wanted to read but David just needed something to take his mind off his daughter and her pirate.

Emma then focused her attention on her baby brother. He was perfectly relaxed now, calm and blowing spit bubbles at her. Ordinarily she found spit bubbles disgusting but something about her baby brother blowing them struck her as really stinkin' adorable rather than gross. Killian stayed beside her, his hook arm slung around her shoulders and his hand playing with Neal's little fingers.

And oh, how Emma had to ignore the way her heart leaped in her chest as she watched him play with a baby.

She rested her head on his shoulder instead, letting the gentle motion of the boat rocking in the waves relax her.

Henry and Snow both emerged on deck then, two books in Snow's hand and both his phone and a deck of playing cards in Henry's. The second he spotted his mom and Killian snuggled up together, he groaned. "Guys, can you take it easy with the PDA, please?"

Emma grinned. Any and all public displays of affection involving one's parent or parents, no matter how tame said PDA might be, were apparently gross to a twelve-year-old. She'd pretty much banked on that, too. "Maybe next time you'll think twice about splashing me," she teased.

Killian chuckled. "She has a point, lad."

Henry pursed his lips then huffed. "Games on my phone are sounding better and better."

Despite his seeming annoyance, he was indeed hiding a smile.

As Henry settled beside his grandfather, Emma smiled up at her pirate. "I don't know if you knew I wanted this little snuggle of ours to have the side effect of teasing Henry," she murmured, "but thanks for being my partner in crime."

His smile told her all she needed to know. He knew, or at the very least had suspected. Not that he'd minded, of course. A snuggle was a snuggle, after all. "Always, love," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Always."

"Ugh!" Henry cried, making everyone chuckle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** This one was fun. :) I liked creating a little moment here for two characters who don't interact much onscreen.

* * *

From the moment she and her family had set sail, Snow White had decided that spending time on a boat was much more enjoyable when they weren't on said boat to rush towards danger or return from it. The whole day stretched out in front of them with nothing to do except spend it together. The sea was calm so there were no bouts of seasickness to manage, Snow's own or anyone else's, and the spot Hook had chosen to drop anchor was warm, quiet, and peaceful. She'd stretched her legs out on the bench, she had a book in her lap, and she idly thought more than once that she could get used to this.

Of course, she did glance up from her book every now and again to check on her family members. Henry had discovered after a few short minutes that the ocean breeze made a leisurely game of solitaire pretty much impossible. Sensing the boy's frustration mounting each time the wind blew his cards out of alignment, Charming had set his own book down and joined his grandson at the table for a two-person game. Much to Snow's delight, it appeared as if Charming was attempting to teach Henry how to play gin. A new game in the kid's repertoire would certainly make the evenings when they played cards a little less repetitive.

Snow then shifted her attention across the deck to her baby boy, her baby girl, and her baby girl's pirate. Little Neal was contently cradled in his big sister's arms and said big sister was just as content tucked up against her pirate's side. As for Hook, he had his arm wrapped around Emma's shoulders, his fingers gently running up and down her upper arm, and his cheek nestled against the top of her head.

Snow's heart skipped a beat when she realized that the three of them looked very much like a young family.

Not that she had any intention of letting her daughter in on that little revelation; it would mortify her.

Both little scenes filled Snow with such joy that she couldn't resist snapping a couple of surreptitious pictures with Charming's phone, one of Charming and Henry focused on their game and one of Emma, Hook, and baby Neal focused on each other. Then, satisfied that each of her family members was perfectly content, she set the phone down and finally returned her attention to her book.

At the end of the chapter, she glanced up again. Charming and Henry were still involved in their game but Emma looked like she was shivering. A squint across the deck revealed that sure enough, goosebumps had broken out on her baby girl's arms.

It took Snow a moment to realize why. Though the weather was indeed unseasonably warm – oh, all right, _hot_ – the breeze coming off the water was a little brisk. Emma's damp hair and bathing suit weren't exactly helping matters.

"Emma, sweetie," she spoke up softly. She hadn't been quiet enough; Emma jumped and lifted her head from Hook's shoulder, somewhat startled by the breaking of the comfortable silence. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Why don't you put on some dry clothes?"

An embarrassed smile tugged at the corners of Emma's mouth as she ducked her head. "I, um, didn't bring a change of clothes. Getting wet wasn't exactly on my agenda for the day."

Henry, who'd clearly overheard the soft conversation, sheepishly ducked his own head. "Sorry, Mom."

"It's okay, kid." Even as she said it, she stifled a shudder. She wasn't at all upset with Henry but she was in fact cold.

Snow just gave both mother and son a calm smile. Emma may not have prepared to get wet but a day on the ocean pretty much necessitated bringing along a change of clothes, just in case. "Go down and check the beach tote. I packed some dry clothes for you."

Emma blinked at her for a second, as if stunned by this turn of events. Then she gave an indulgent roll of her eyes. " _God_ , you're such a mom."

Despite her seeming annoyance, Emma was smiling.

Snow smiled back. Being "such a mom" in her daughter's estimation felt _amazing_.

She watched as Emma sat up straight and looked Hook in the eye. Panic swirled in the pirate's eyes for the space of a heartbeat but as quickly as it had come, it was gone and he was all business. He twisted his hook out of its brace, set it down beside him, and held out his arms.

Emma easily transferred baby Neal to him and then excused herself to duck below decks and change.

Only then did Snow realize that neither Emma nor Hook had said a word to each other. She'd just watched her baby girl have a silent conversation with the man she loved, the same kind of silent conversation that fascinated Emma to the point of speechlessness each time she witnessed Snow having one with Charming.

Snow didn't think it had even registered with Emma! Oh, she definitely needed to have a little talk with her baby girl at some point today, just to point that out to her. Because for one thing, the look on her face when she realized was sure to be amusing, and for another thing, the fact that Emma had finally found someone to have silent conversations with was _wonderful_.

First on Snow's agenda, though, was apparently going to be calming a nervous Hook. His grip on Neal was perfectly fine but he was extraordinarily tense, as if he were afraid to move for fear of hurting the poor baby.

Smiling softly, she set her book down and crossed the deck to sit next to Hook. "Relax," she gently murmured to him. "You're doing just fine."

"Apologies, milady," he said somewhat anxiously. "It's simply that I've never–"

"I know, and now's a perfectly good time to start. The thing to understand is that babies are quite adept at sensing the emotions around them. If the person holding Neal is tense, Neal will be tense. But if the person holding him is relaxed ..."

"He will be relaxed," Hook finished.

"Yes."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, which struck Snow as simultaneously amusing and kind of cute. Here was Captain Hook, a fearsome pirate captain who could weather any storm and command an entire crew, and one squirming little infant made him skittish.

It took a few seconds but soon Hook relaxed into the cushions. Neal relaxed in response, his big blue eyes locking on the pirate's. _Well, then_ , Snow thought, hiding a smirk. It appeared as if the pirate had charmed one more member of her family. "He likes you," she said softly.

Hook glanced over at her, his surprise evident. "The young royal means a great deal to me as well. And he certainly adores his sister."

"Yes, he certainly does." She smiled down at her baby boy before returning her attention to her daughter's pirate. "Thank you for today, Hook. This time out here, just the six of us … I think it's something we all needed."

"You're very welcome, milady," he replied, giving her a reverent nod. "It's my pleasure. I'm happy to take you all out here any time you desire."

Snow smiled her gratitude, caressed her baby boy's cheek, and patted Hook's shoulder. Then she stood and crossed back to her own bench, catching Charming's eye as she sat. They shared a smile borne of love and contentment before turning back to their own activities.

Emma returned a minute or so later in dry shorts and a T-shirt looking much, much warmer than when she'd left. "Hey, kid," she said as she set her wet towel out next to her clothes to dry in the sun, "guess what."

"What?" Henry asked, tearing his attention from the game.

"There _is_ a shower down there!"

The boy's eyed widened. "Really?"

"Sort of. I don't feel gross anymore, anyway."

He chuckled. "That's good."

"All right," she said to both Snow and Hook as she reclaimed her place on the bench beside him, "what'd I miss?"

"Nothing," Snow said, smiling over at Hook and Neal, "other than your little brother being charmed by a certain pirate."

"It appears as if the young lad likes me," Hook agreed.

Emma smiled at him. "Of course he does. What's not to like?"

* * *

Emma had to admit, she was indeed a lot warmer in her dry clothes. Maybe there was something to be said for her mom being a mom and over-preparing after all.

Not that she had any intention of admitting _that_ out loud.

The little shower had made a huge difference as well. _Shower_ was probably too strong a term for it; the bathroom faucet had a sprayer attachment much like a kitchen sprayer that lifted off the sink and latched onto the wall. Taking a long, luxurious shower had clearly not at all been in the cards but at least she'd been able to rinse the salt off her arms and legs.

A real long and luxurious shower could come later.

After arriving back up on deck, Emma had once again tucked herself against Killian's side. Since Neal was perfectly content with Killian (and Killian seemed perfectly content with Neal), they'd decided not to transfer him again.

After a beat, Emma shifted position so that her head was resting on Killian's shoulder and closed her eyes. The quiet and the gentle rocking of the boat in the waves were soothing, so soothing in fact that they were combing to make her kind of sleepy.

She allowed the relaxation for a long moment, probably longer than she intended because she was halfway to dozing when she felt Killian kiss the top of her head. She lifted her head and smiled somewhat blearily up at him.

"Apologies, love," he cringed slightly. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

"You didn't. So, is this what you do when you take Henry sailing? Come out here and just … be?"

"Aye," he answered, a tender smile on his lips. "Sometimes we play games – cards or dice. He's tried to teach me games on his talking phone but I don't understand them. Sometimes we sit and talk. Sometimes we tell stories. More than once, we've taken impromptu naps."

Emma smiled. She definitely understood about the naps, considering she'd been on the way to one herself. "It's so peaceful out here."

"No sounds but the birds and the breeze and the creaking of the boat," he agreed.

"It's almost easy to believe that the six of us are the only people in the world."

"Aye, love."

She let that linger a bit, the words echoing through her head. It was nice to be able to escape for a little while, to have this peace and quiet for a day or so, but she had no idea how Killian had done this day in and day out for centuries.

Emma looked up at her pirate, her expression suddenly serious. "Did it ever get lonely?"

Though she hadn't explained the turn her thoughts had taken, Killian somehow knew exactly what she meant. "At the time, I didn't think so." He let his gaze wander, glancing at everyone on the boat in turn before once again returning his attention to Emma. "Now, however, I understand that yes, it was quite lonely."

"Yeah." Emma glanced at each of her family members as well. Henry had his arms raised above his head in victory, celebrating winning a hand at whatever card game he and David were playing. Snow was lost in her book, her eyes flying over the words on the pages. The little squirt was beginning to doze off in Killian's arms. "Yeah, I hear that one."

And she did. She'd spent so much time convincing herself she didn't need anyone, convincing herself that she was better off alone, only to discover she'd simply been lying to herself all those years. Just like Killian, she hadn't recognized the depths of her loneliness, not until a ten-year-old boy knocked on her door and started her on her journey home.

Looking back on it, yes, she was lonely. _God_ , she was so lonely.

"That was then, though," Killian said, drawing Emma out of her morose mental wanderings. She looked up at him as his gaze once again darted around the deck. "I'm very happy to say that I'm not lonely any longer."

She gave him a touched smile, which he answered with one of his own. "I'm not lonely anymore, either."

Another glance at her family was proof enough. Her mom, her dad, her kid, her baby brother, her pirate. They loved her and she loved them. She couldn't – and had no desire to – imagine a world without them in it.

Oh yes, the days of being lonely – hers and Killian's – were _finally_ in the past.


	6. Chapter 6

If there was one thing Killian Jones had learned over his centuries, it was that one's life could change in an instant.

In much of his previous experience, that change had been for the worse. One minute he was adventuring on the high seas with the woman he loved, the next the sharp, throbbing pain from losing his hand was nothing compared to the bone-deep, soul-crushing ache of losing Milah. One minute he'd found a spark of light in the darkness by the name of Emma Swan, the next she'd been whisked out of his life by a curse … or the reversal of one, he supposed.

But the most recent change in his life … this one was most certainly for the better. This change was _incredible_.

If anyone had told him a century and a half ago that one day he would be perfectly content relaxing on a rented sailboat with the woman he loved and her family while cradling a sleeping baby in his arms, he probably would have laughed in that person's face before sending them to the brig. And yet here he was, relaxing on a rented sailboat with the woman he loved and her family while cradling a sleeping baby in his arms.

And he was indeed perfectly content. Hell, he adored every minute of it.

He and Emma were still curled up together on the bench, her head resting on his shoulder and her eyes closed. The princess had gotten up a few minutes ago to join her husband and grandson at the table for a card game, one Killian didn't recognize at all but Emma insisted was called "slapjack." It looked positively ridiculous but the three of them were having fun with it, which, Killian supposed, was all that mattered.

"Do you want me to take him?" Emma mumbled without opening her eyes, drawing Killian back to the present.

Somehow he knew without having to ask that she meant baby Neal. The young prince had been asleep about half an hour, by his best estimation, and he'd been holding him longer than that. He was indeed beginning to get heavy in Killian's arms but Emma looked so comfortable that Killian couldn't bear the thought of disturbing her. "No, love, I've got him a while longer."

"Okay … if you're sure."

"I am. It isn't every day you get the chance to relax like this, Swan. Take advantage of it."

A little smile curled on her lips. "If I relax any more, I'm going to pass out on you."

Killian chuckled. "Your brother didn't seem to hesitate in doing exactly that."

"My brother is a baby. Passing out on people is part of his job description."

Killian smirked down at her; she still hadn't opened her eyes. The two of them once again fell into a comfortable silence. Killian longed to wrap an arm around her shoulders but the young lad napping in his arms prevented it. He settled for nestling his cheek against the top of her head instead, smiling when he felt her relax further at the contact.

Just when Killian thought Emma might actually be on her way to sleep, she blinked her eyes open and sat up straight. She stifled a yawn as she glanced over at her parents and son, who were still content in their ridiculous card game, before returning her attention to her baby brother and Killian. "His breathing changed. I think he's going to start fussing."

Sure enough, Killian felt the little lad squirm in his arms no more than a second later. Suddenly unsure of what to do, he glanced at Emma.

She smiled calmly and leaned over to perform what Killian had dubbed her "magic touch." She ran her index finger down her brother's forehead, from his hairline down to the bridge of his nose. The action usually soothed the lad in seconds but this time, it didn't work.

Emma frowned, and panic rose in Killian's chest. He hadn't jostled the baby at all. What in blazes had woken him from his slumber?

Before little Neal had the chance to shift from fussing to full-blown crying, Snow excused herself from the card game and stepped up to Killian and Emma. "It's not you, it's him," she smiled as she gently gathered her son in her arms. "He's getting hungry."

Killian let out a soft breath of relief. Thank the heavens the young prince's fussiness hadn't been due to anything he did; he hadn't been able to hazard a guess as to what he'd done wrong!

Snow ducked below decks to tend to her young lad in the cabin. Now that he was officially off baby duty for the next little while, Killian replaced his hook in its brace.

Across the deck, Henry collected the abandoned playing cards but before he could shuffle them for another game, he said, "Actually, now that someone's said it–"

"You're hungry, too," Emma finished for him.

He grinned at her. "Yep."

She gave a slight shake of her head and an indulgent roll of her eyes. Twelve-year-old boys were _always_ hungry.

Taking the not-so-subtle hint, David pushed himself to his feet and told his family to sit tight while he retrieved the cooler from the galley. A smiling Henry tucked the cards back into their little box and cleared the rest of the family's belongings from the table.

Heaving a soft sigh, Emma finally untangled herself from Killian, stood up from the bench, and stretched. Before Killian had the chance to register the loss of warmth due to her absence, she grabbed his hand, pulled him to his feet, and dragged him over to the table.

"What did you guys pack for lunch?" the lad asked as the three of them took seats, Henry on one side and Emma and Killian across from him.

A somewhat sheepish smile played across Emma's lips. "A whole bunch of stuff. I'm pretty sure we made enough sandwiches to feed a small country."

Henry and Killian raised their eyebrows at each other. This was almost certainly going to be a welcome change from their sailing trips. Oh, they brought food, of course, but never enough to "feed a small country."

And sure enough, when David arrived back on deck with the cooler, they opened it to find that there was indeed more food than they five of them could possibly eat. "Exactly how long did you anticipate us being on the ocean, love?" Killian asked, amusement lighting his features.

"It didn't feel this excessive when we were making it," she admitted.

A quick count told Killian they'd made about a dozen sandwiches. Added to those were the bag of potato chips, a container of macaroni salad, and two unopened packages of cookies.

David frowned down at the cooler and its contents. "I don't remember packing the Chips Ahoy or the Oreos."

"That's 'cause you didn't," Emma said, a mischievous grin on her lips. "I picked them up at the store when we bought the ice and the water."

Realization flickered in David's eyes. "When your mother waited in the truck with your brother. She doesn't have any idea you bought these, does she."

Thought it wasn't a question, Emma answered anyway. "Nope."

A smiling David shook his head at his sneaky daughter and her insatiable sweet tooth.

Henry still hadn't taken his eyes off the veritable feast in front of them. "This is so much better than when Killian and I go out sailing."

"Now, lad," Killian teased, "those peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwiches you introduced me to are the very height of cuisine."

Truth be told, Killian actually enjoyed those sandwiches a great deal.

Emma raised her eyebrows at her son. "You pack Fluffernutters when you go sailing?"

Henry shrugged. "Why not? We don't have them all the time, though. Sometimes Granny makes us a little care package."

Now Emma turned an arched eyebrow on Killian. He simply shrugged at her as well, a grin on his lips. It wasn't his fault the wolf woman provided them with food, though he was sure the extra doubloon with his board every now and again helped defray the cost.

David set out the paper plates and cups his wife had packed in the beach tote and everyone dug in. Henry snagged two chicken salad sandwiches right off the bat while Emma piled her plate with a turkey sandwich, macaroni salad, and chips. David grabbed a ham and cheese sandwich for himself and a turkey sandwich for his wife and filled the rest of their plates with sides.

Killian himself could have kissed Emma when he realized she'd packed plenty of chicken salad sandwiches. He'd not had the dish before his arrival in Storybrooke but he'd quickly discovered that he couldn't live without it. He also took the bag of chips from her when she offered it; he much preferred the French fried potatoes at Granny's to these salty little discs but he'd discovered the hard way that fries don't keep particularly well for a sailing trip.

They were much, much better hot than cold.

The three of them ate companionably as they tried to figure out their plan for the rest of the afternoon. Henry wanted to go swimming again and hoped the water was still warm. David said if it was, he'd like to go for a quick swim, too, which made Henry grin.

As for Emma, she just smiled at Killian, silently telling him she was perfectly all right with sitting with him as they were before lunch. Killian smiled back; the casual intimacy with his Swan was something to which he would never and had no desire to object.

The princess arrived back on deck a few minutes later, a baby with a full belly dozing in her arms. She took a seat at the table, shifted the baby so he was nestled in the crook of one arm, and expertly began to eat with her free hand.

It wasn't until she reached into the cooler to retrieve a bottle of water that she noticed the surprise packages of cookies. "Emma?"

"Yeah?" Emma asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"We didn't have unopened packages of cookies in the house. Did you buy these?"

Emma swallowed her bite of sandwich and smiled innocently at her mother. "Maybe?"

The princess simply shook her head while hiding a smile, clearly surrendering to her daughter's sweet tooth. "What on earth am I going to do with you?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** You guys are still the best! Have some cotton candy, because I can never seem to resist it. (And yes, this is, as they say, the calm before. *grins*)

* * *

Conversation flowed as the little family finished up their lunch. Somehow talk had turned to the sweets and treats of their childhoods, and Emma was in the middle of a story about the time she and another girl in one of her group homes had utterly failed at baking brownies. From what Killian gathered, she'd been in one of rare decent homes at the time and the woman in charge had been amused by rather than angry with the result of their little baking exercise. "The top was perfectly cooked," Emma insisted. "The bottom, not so much. When we went to cut them up, we cut into a pool of brownie batter."

David managed to cover his chuckle with a cough but Snow and Henry were openly laughing. Killian grinned at his Swan, trying to imagine her as a lass younger than Henry attempting her first baking session without adult supervision. "I gather you didn't end up with a freshly baked dessert that night," Snow said once she'd caught her breath.

"It may not have been baked correctly but we totally served it anyway," Emma said, a cheeky grin on her lips. "Because you know what little kids love more than brownies?"

"Brownie batter," Henry replied.

"Damn straight. We each grabbed a spoon and dug in."

The prince and princess exchanged a tender smile, both of them clearly thrilled that their daughter had decided to share this little moment from her childhood with them. Killian himself relished hearing about the good moments from her past; he could only imagine how much her parents adored it.

"Now _I_ want some brownie batter," Henry said, making everyone laugh.

"Maybe later, kid," Emma replied, smiling.

Once it became clear that everyone's stomachs were full of sandwiches and cookies, Emma stood up to clear the table. Henry stood as well, once again pulling off his shirt so he could head back into the water. "I don't think you should go quite yet, Henry," the princess said hesitantly. "You should wait an hour or so before heading back into the water."

The lad somewhat impatiently rolled his eyes. "That's just an old wives' tale, Gramma. I'm not going to get a cramp and drown. I just want to cool off; it's hot up here."

"I'll watch him," David murmured to his wife.

Snow sent a questioning glance at Emma, who shrugged. It wasn't as if the lad and the prince were going to do any kind of competitive swimming or engage in any rough play. They both simply wanted to cool off by dunking their heads.

"All right, you can go," Snow relented, much to Henry's delight and David's amusement, "but I want you both back up on this deck at the slightest sign of discomfort."

"Thanks, Gramma!" And with that, Henry was off, dashing across the deck and scrambling down the ladder. The prince followed at his heels but before he could even strip off his shirt, the lad had leaped into the water. "Water's still warm, Grampa!"

Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise. Clearly she hadn't expected the effects of her magic to last quite this long.

Killian and Emma cleared the rest of the table, tucking the uneaten food back in the cooler and gathering their used plates and utensils for disposal in a plastic bag the princess had packed in the beach tote. At Emma's insistence, Snow carried a still sleeping Neal back to the sitting area so she could get him out of the sun and keep an eye on her husband and grandson in the water.

After Killian helped Emma carry the cooler back down into the galley, they returned on deck and reclaimed their seats on the bench across from the princess. Before sitting, Emma stepped up to her mother and said, "I want baby time."

A warm smile played across Snow's lips as she gently transferred baby Neal into his big sister's arms. The young lad squirmed only the tiniest bit, his little thumb finding his mouth.

Talk about heart-melting.

With her baby brother cradled in her arms, Emma tucked herself against Killian's side. He smiled at her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You all right, love?" he asked, his fingers already tracing soft lines up and down her arm.

"Better than all right." She smiled up at him, her eyes shining with love and warmth. "Have I thanked you yet for doing this for us?"

Not in words, she hadn't. In every other way, though, she had. Her gratitude was evident in her easy smiles and the way she cuddled up to him and relaxed against him. It was in her magic water fight with her lad and in her teasing of her father. It was in the looks she shared with her mother and the adoring way she gazed down at her baby brother. It was in everything she'd done from the time he'd made the suggestion. "Aye, love," he said softly, "you have."

They fell into a comfortable silence. Emma's focus was split between her sleeping baby brother, her pirate, and her son and father in the water. The princess also divided her attention, taking in the sight of her daughter lovingly cradling little Neal while also keeping a watchful on her swimming family members. Killian, though, kept his attention solely on Emma.

After what Killian guessed to be about twenty minutes, Henry and David both swam back to the boat and hoisted themselves out of the water. As they scrambled up the ladder, Killian noted that Henry's lower lip was quivering in a shiver, leading him to assume that Emma's warming magic had finally worn off. "You two all right?" Emma asked, concern knotting her brow.

"Yes," David replied, stifling a shiver of his own. "I will say, though, that your magic is amazing. The water is positively frigid without it."

The frown on Emma's lips refused to budge. "I can warm the water for you guys again, if you want."

"No, Mom, you don't have to," Henry assured her. "I just wanted to cool off, and believe me, I'm plenty cool now."

That got her to smile. "Okay, if you're sure."

"Yep." As if to prove how sure he was, the lad grabbed his towel from where he'd left it drying and wrapped himself up in it.

"I'll be right back," David said, excusing himself to get a towel of his own.

Now that everyone was out of the water for a while, both the princess and Emma allowed themselves to relax. Snow opened her book again while Emma snuggled impossibly closer to Killian.

David returned a moment later and eased down beside his wife with a teasing grin. "Charming, you're wet and cold!" Snow exclaimed, stifling a giggle. Beyond that, she didn't tell him to move, so he stayed.

Once Henry felt as if he'd dried enough, he set the towel back out in the sun, grabbed his phone, and plopped down next to Killian. He glanced over the lad's shoulder and was surprised to find him playing some kind of word game. He watched with fascination, trying to figure out the object of the game.

Henry must have realized he was being watched and why because he smiled up at Killian. "You're supposed to find different words using these six letters."

Emma leaned forward to see her son past Killian. "You're playing Text Twist?"

"It's a Text Twist knock-off, but basically, yeah."

"Do you know this game, love?" Killian asked.

"Yeah. I'm decent at it."

"'Decent?'" Henry asked in disbelief. "She's being modest. She's awesome at it."

A light blush colored Emma's cheeks, which Killian found remarkably endearing. "You'll have to show me someday when your hands are less full, Swan."

As if he was aware he was being vaguely discussed, the baby started to fuss in Emma's arms. David stood and took him from his daughter. "That's his needs-to-be-changed squirming," he explained, then excused himself to tend to the little lad.

Without a baby in her arms, Emma allowed herself to relax fully, resting her head on Killian's shoulder and closing her eyes. Killian continued to trace soft lines up and down her arm with his fingers while he watched Henry play the word game. After watching a couple of rounds, he was even able to help the lad find some words.

David returned with a now wide-awake little Neal and sat down beside Snow, who looked up from her book at their arrival and gave them both a loving smile.

Killian hadn't realized just how long they'd been sitting in the comforting silence with the boat rocking gently in the waves until he felt Emma's muscles twitch. An amused smile tugged at his lips as he realized the relaxation, her full stomach, and the rocking had finally worked their magic: she was falling asleep leaning against him.

The princess must have realized it, too, because she interrupted the silence with a gentle, "Emma."

When she didn't move, Killian helped Snow out by rubbing his palm over Emma's arm to bring her around a little. She flinched and her eyes snapped open. "What?"

Snow and Killian both shared a wince. They hadn't meant to startle her. Still, all Snow said was, "Why don't you go lie down in the cabin for a little while?"

"Don't want to," Emma mumbled, her eyes sliding closed again.

Snow frowned. "Then at least put some more sunscreen on. You're falling asleep."

"No m'not."

That got everyone to smile. That, and the fact that despite her denial, she was snoring lightly in under a minute.

It was apparent, however, that despite the princess's amusement, she was concerned that her daughter was going to wake with a sunburn. In response, Henry set his phone down, pushed himself to his feet, and grabbed Emma's towel from the sun-warmed deck. "It's dry now," he murmured to Snow as he handed it to her. "If she uses it like a blanket, she won't get a sunburn."

"Wonderful idea, Henry," Snow replied, then stood to vaguely tuck in her little girl.

After she draped the towel over Emma, she exchanged an amused smile with Killian. "I can try to lie her down."

"No," Killian whispered in response. "Somehow she's comfortable like this and I'd rather not disturb her."

Snow's smile turned tender as she nodded and reclaimed her seat. She once again opened her book, Henry resumed his word game, and a resigned David took all of it in with a gentle smile.

Killian looked down at Emma with a smile of his own. His Swan may have been using him as a pillow but truthfully, there was nowhere else he would rather be.


	8. Chapter 8

There was something about the gentle rocking of the boat in the waves that Charming found remarkably soothing. His previous experiences on boats hadn't exactly lent themselves to just sitting quietly under the sun and breathing in the salt air. Now, though … now he thought he could see why other people swore by spending hot, sunny days on the ocean.

The quiet comfort and the sun and the soft breeze were all so very relaxing. In his arms lay an absolutely content little baby. His wife sat on the bench sideways beside him, her legs outstretched so her feet rested in his lap. One glance proved that she was lost in her book's imaginary world.

Across from him, Henry had assumed the same position as his grandmother, seated sideways with his legs outstretched, while he paged through a book of his own. His feet, however, were resting on a pirate's lap. Said pirate had rested his cheek against Emma's head and, at some point Charming couldn't determine, had allowed his eyes to close. And as for Emma, she was still tucked up against Hook's side, though her head had dropped forward slightly in sleep.

"I don't think I've ever seen her so … _comfortable_ ," Charming murmured aloud.

Snow glanced up from her book, a tender smile playing across her lips. "Either of them."

Charming had to admit that she had a decent point. He didn't think he'd ever seen Hook so comfortable, either. The pirate had been tracing soft lines up and down Emma's arm but his hand was now still, leading Charming to conclude he was dozing as well. Neither one of their positions was the most conducive for sleep but they were at ease enough with each other that sleep had found them regardless.

And something about their positioning – Emma and Hook together and Henry lounging next to them – made Charming gasp. All of a sudden, they looked very much like a little family.

"I noticed the same thing earlier when Emma was holding Neal," Snow said softly. Charming turned an amazed look on his wife. She simply smiled at him. "It's written all over your face. You just noticed how much they resemble a family, didn't you?"

He nodded at her. "They really do."

And he was rather surprised to find himself overcome with joy at the thought. His little girl had grown up so alone and now she'd _finally_ found her family, both real and made.

All Charming wanted for his daughter was health and happiness. Although he may have given the pirate a hard time on occasion, it wasn't at all difficult to see just much Hook cared for – no, _loved_ – Emma. Hook's frantic desperation the night of the cave-in at the ice wall had silenced Charming's inner overprotective-father side enough for him to finally recognize it.

The pirate _loved_ Charming's daughter and Emma loved him back with all her heart and soul. Again, it was the night of the cave-in that had opened his eyes to Emma's feelings for Hook – how she'd clung to him after Elsa managed to free them, how she'd grasped his hand in the apartment afterward, how she'd allowed herself to decompress leaning against him.

"He makes her happy," Charming concluded softly.

Snow's smile widened as she caught Charming's eye. "That he does, and she does the same for him. Regina once told me that love is the most powerful magic of all because it creates happiness. Seeing her now," she gave a slight nod in Emma's direction, "watching her finally allow our love and his in … I believe it."

Charming couldn't help the gentle smile spread across his face. "I guess Regina was right. After all, we only have all of this," he said, nodding down at Neal and then to the rest of the family across from them, "because two people fell in love."

A touched Snow set her book down and repositioned herself on the bench to wrap her husband in a tight sideways hug. "Look what we made," she whispered.

He grinned as he gazed down at his squirming little son and then across the deck to his sleeping daughter, his grandson, and his daughter's sleeping pirate. Look, indeed.

"I can still play the part of the overprotective father from time to time, though, can't I?" he asked after letting the moment settle.

Snow chuckled as she pulled out of the embrace. "I wouldn't expect anything different."

She let Charming go but did not reclaim her previous seat. Instead, she snuggled up against his side in a position not unlike her daughter's. Charming closed his eyes and basked in the peace and comfort of being with his entire family.

He opened his eyes a few moments later when he felt Snow stifle a shiver. "Are you all right?" he asked, concern furrowing his brow.

"Yes," she assured him. "I just got a chill."

At that, Henry carefully removed his feet from the pirate's lap, swung his legs over the edge of the bench, and stood. "I'll be right back, Gramma."

He disappeared below decks before either of his grandparents could ask where he was going. Snow and Charming met each other's gazes and shrugged.

A moment later, he returned with an unused towel and handed it to Snow. Smiling, she wrapped the towel around her shoulders like a shawl. "Thank you, Henry."

"You're welcome." Then he plopped back down on the bench and picked up his book.

Charming himself wasn't cold but he ran a gentle hand over baby Neal's arms and legs to make sure he was warm enough. The baby's skin felt warm and since he wasn't fussing or fidgeting, he seemed to be content. As a matter of fact, his big blue eyes seemed to be following a seagull that was flying overhead.

Shades of his mother and her communication with their feathered friends, perhaps?

Only when the sun disappeared behind a cloud did Charming finally feel the chill of the breeze off the ocean. Snow absently pulled the towel more tightly around her shoulders, as if trying to ward off the cold. Emma shifted in sleep as well, seeming to snuggle deeper under her towel for warmth.

Still, Charming didn't think anything of it, not until a suddenly wide-awake Hook lifted his head from Emma's. There was a barely noticeable frown on his lips, one Charming had a funny feeling had not stemmed from the confusion of waking from an unexpected nap. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"The wind changed."

Of all the answers Charming had expected, that was actually nowhere on the list. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Snow raise her eyebrows. "The changing of the wind woke you?" she asked.

The pirate allowed a little smile. "Not the wind itself but a change of the motion of the ship in the waves as a result of the change in the wind. It's a subtle difference but one I've learned to recognize, even and perhaps especially unconsciously."

Charming noted with a hint of worry that Henry was now sitting at attention. Both the captain and the first mate were concerned but for the life of him, Charming couldn't figure out why.

Not until he spotted the dark clouds off in the distance.

Hook had spotted them a split-second before Charming. His voice was calm as he said, "Henry, lad, I need you to go raise the anchor and hoist the sails."

The boy was on his feet in an instant to do as Hook instructed. _Uh oh_ , Charming thought as he exchanged a nervous look with Snow. That did not bode well at all.

"What do you need us to do?" Snow asked before Charming had the chance.

"Nothing yet," the pirate said, his tone still calm. "Just sit tight." And then he looked down at Emma, clearly torn. He didn't want to wake her but he needed to get up so he could get them turned around and headed back to shore.

In an instant, mama bear came to the rescue. With a soft smile, Snow pushed herself to her feet, crossed the deck, and sat down at Emma's other side. She lightly gripped her daughter's shoulder and gave it a soft shake. Her intent, Charming realized, was to rouse Emma enough to move but not enough to wake her fully.

The gentle contact worked; Emma lifted her head with a sharp inhale. Her eyelids fluttered open just long enough for her to shift position and rest her head on her mother's shoulder, thereby freeing Hook from pillow duty.

"Thank you, milady," Hook whispered, smiling.

"You're welcome," Snow replied, smiling back.

And then, with a final caress of Emma's shoulder, the pirate was off to ready the boat for an about-face in an effort to outrun the coming storm.

Snow fixed the towel around Emma and then lightly grasped her hand, running her thumb over the back of it in an effort to soothe her back into a deeper sleep. If the slight nodding of Emma's head was any indication, it was working. "Is the baby all right?" she asked Charming once Emma was completely settled.

A glance down at him proved the baby had no clue anything was even wrong. "He's fine," he assured his wife. "If the seas get rough before we dock at the harbor, I'll take him down to the cabin."

Snow nodded her approval of that plan.

For a tense moment, the two of them watched Hook and Henry get the boat moving again. Charming longed to help but something told him he would only be in the way if he offered. Hook had certainly taught Henry well; the two of them worked together seamlessly. Within a few minutes, Hook turned the boat around and the two of them set a course back to the harbor.

Snow and Charming met each other's eyes again. The storm was still off in the distance; hopefully they'd make it back to shore before it hit.

Charming had just opened his mouth to assure his wife of just that when that Emma's head slipped straight off her mother's shoulder, jerking her awake. An amused Charming felt bad about stifling a chuckle at his poor baby's rude awakening, and a glance at Snow proved she was just as amused and felt just as guilty. "S'going on?" Emma mumbled as she looked around dazedly. "Why are we moving?"

"The weatherman mentioned that a storm was going to roll through the area during the evening hours," Snow gently reminded her daughter as she brushed a lock of hair out of Emma's eyes. "He was right about the storm but I'm afraid he was wrong about the timing."

That seemed to cut through Emma's grogginess. She sat up straight and groaned. "Great. Just our luck that we'd get caught in another storm at sea."

It was obvious that the memory of the anger-fueled storm they'd all weathered in Neverland was flashing through her mind. Charming gave her a smile in an effort to set her at ease. "We won't, not if Hook and Henry have anything to say about it."

She glanced over her shoulder at the captain and first mate diligently at work and smiled. "That's my boys."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the tardiness of this chapter. It's been a nutty week! This chapter is a little bit longer than the others, though, so hopefully that makes up for it. :)

* * *

It was only when the first echoes of thunder rumbled overhead that Emma knew they were in trouble. _Oh, crap_ , she thought as she pushed herself to her feet. They should probably get everything packed so it was all ready to be offloaded when they got back to shore.

David murmured soft comforts to a fussing Neal as he handed him off to Snow. Once he was sure the baby was settled, David stood and rested a hand on Emma's shoulder.

She could see in his eyes what he wanted her to do; he wanted her to stay with Snow while he gathered all the stuff the family had left on deck and took it all down to the cabin to put away. She smiled at him and said, "Go."

"Thanks." He pressed a kiss to the side of her head and took off.

Poor little Neal was still fussing. Emma sat back down next to Snow but before she could even attempt her magic touch to soothe her bother, the boat pitched in the rising waves. The squirt's fussing bloomed into full-blown whimpering.

"I'm going to take him downstairs," Snow said, raising her voice a little to be heard over the thunder, Neal's fussing, and the blowing wind.

Emma nodded and walked alongside her mother to the stairs leading to the cabin. The horizon rose and fell with the bobbing of the boat, which made walking more than a little difficult. It was getting so bad that Emma wouldn't have been surprised if their heavy lunch ended up biting any of them in the ass. It certainly was doing a number on her stomach.

They arrived at the staircase just as David was coming back up. He met his wife's eyes and instantly stepped aside to allow her and Neal entry into the cabin. After planting swift kisses on Snow's cheek and Neal's little forehead, he climbed back up the stairs and gave Emma a calm smile. "Not exactly the quiet little afternoon we'd planned, huh?"

"That's an understatement," Emma deadpanned.

David chuckled. As one, they both approached Killian, intent on finding out what they could do to help.

"The lad needs help at the mast," the captain said to David, who nodded before hurrying over to assist Henry in keeping the sails secured in the rising wind.

When Killian shifted focus back on Emma, she was surprised to see concern swirling in his eyes. "You're looking a little green around the gills, love," he said after a moment's hesitation. "I don't suppose I could convince you to join your mother and brother below decks."

She arched an eyebrow at him; like hell he could.

Killian smiled sheepishly, scratching at his ear. "Aye, I thought not. Fancy a lesson on outrunning a storm, then?"

Emma couldn't help but smile back. "Only because I'm learning from the best."

"That you are, love," he chuckled, stepping away from the helm to make room for her. She grasped the wheel, its surface still warm from where he'd held it, and smiled when he placed his hand over hers. "Now, Henry and your father are doing a lot of work at the mast. What we're doing is maintaining heading and making sure the wind and waves don't take us down with them."

Emma nodded. "Okay, so what's my first captaining lesson?"

"Your first lesson is learning to spot."

"Spot?"

"Aye. Find a steady portion of the horizon and keep your eyes focused on it. It'll help with the seasickness."

It took a couple dizzying seconds of searching but Emma finally found a point along the horizon that didn't seem to be moving as much. As she stared at it, the churning in her stomach eased. "Oh, thank you," she murmured in relief.

"You're very welcome," Killian replied. She could hear the smile in his voice. "And now for your second lesson: don't think."

"Don't think?"

"No. Feel."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? How the hell was anything she could _feel_ supposed to –

All of a sudden, the wheel jerked against her grip as the churning sea pushed against the rudder.

 _Oh_.

 _That_ was what she was supposed to feel. And somehow, she knew exactly how to compensate for it. Inhaling deeply, she tightened her grip on the wheel and pulled back against the tug she felt to keep the boat on its steady course.

Killian smiled proudly at her. "There, lass. You felt it."

So she had. She grinned at Killian and then returned her attention to her steady point on the horizon.

The seas were getting choppier by the minute. After the fourth yank on the wheel, Killian sighed. "I'd like to extend my sincere apologies, Swan. This is not how I wanted our afternoon to end."

"Hey," she said gently, "you couldn't have known the storm was going to hit early. I think it's safe to say that none of us could have anticipated this. Not to mention that a little wind and thunder can't erase the really nice time we had before it, Killian. Thank you for bringing us out here today."

"You're welcome, love," he said with a reverent nod. "I promise to get you and your family back to shore safely."

"I know you will."

Assurances made, the two of them stood in silence. When Emma noticed that Killian's intent gaze had gone back to the dark clouds racing overhead, she felt the need to add, "Nothing could be worse than that storm in Neverland. You got us all through that safely."

That got him to smile a little bit. "I may have handled the ship, love, but I do believe you were the one who figured out how to beat that storm. I, for one, would much rather not have you jumping off the rail this time."

She smirked back. "No promises."

* * *

It took Emma less than a minute to decide that there was something rather exhilarating about attempting to beat the rolling gray clouds to shore. Her heart pounded in excitement and her blood rushed through her veins. Now that she thought about it, it felt basically the same as the rush her magic gave her when she'd been using it a lot. Her proximity with Killian helped, too, of course; he was still standing behind her, his chest up against her back, and had yet to release her hand.

Thank goodness her father and kid were too busy with the sails to look back at the helm. Both of them had reached their limit for witnessing PDA earlier in the day.

"Is this how you teach all the girls how to sail?" Emma eventually asked, taking her eyes off the horizon just long enough to glance back at Killian over her shoulder.

He grinned that shit-eating grin of his. "Just the blondes."

She gave an indulgent roll of her eyes. "Pirates."

The harbor was in full view now and the clouds above were dangerously close to overtaking them. As they approached the docks, Emma felt the boat begin to lose speed. She tightened her grip on the wheel but Killian rubbed her hand, silently telling her to relax. "We're slowing down on purpose, love," he told her softly.

She gave him a nod, smiling somewhat sheepishly. Of course they were slowing down on purpose. It wasn't like they could dock going full speed.

And due to that loss of speed, the clouds finally overtook them as Killian was showing her how to get into position for pulling into the slip. "Bloody hell," he murmured.

"It hasn't started raining yet," Emma reminded him. "We still have time."

The rumble of the thunder was almost constant. Killian met her eyes and in an instant, she understood. They may still have had time but they didn't have a whole hell of a lot of it. And when the storm finally hit, it was going to be as if all hell had broken loose.

Since time was of the essence, Emma stepped away from the helm to let the captain take over. "All right, park this puppy and let's get the hell out of here."

That got him to smirk. "We don't 'park' a boat, Swan. We dock."

"If you say so."

From what Emma could see, "docking" a boat was a lot like trying to pull a really big car into a really little space, all while fighting the wind. In short, she was glad she handed the task over. Maybe she could have a docking lesson on another day when time wasn't so damn critical.

Still, Killian made it look like a piece of cake. And judging by the little smirk on his face, he knew it, too.

As soon as the boat entered the slip, Henry scrambled off the boat and down to the dock. Before Emma could ask what the hell he was doing, Killian tossed him the mooring line, which he tied to one of the little posts situated along the dock.

 _That answers that question_ , Emma thought, smiling at her two guys.

Killian smiled back at her. "Help your parents with the supplies, love," he said, pausing in his preparations just long enough to give her a quick peck on the cheek. "Henry and I will moor the boat and meet you at David's vessel."

"Okay," she said, her knees weakening at even that chaste a kiss.

The thunder rumbled again, startling her back to reality. Oh, right, racing the storm. While captain and first mate secured the boat to the dock, Emma headed for the cabin. David had beat her down there and was already on his way back up with the cooler and the beach tote. She smiled at him as she took the beach tote off his hands. "You all right with the cooler?"

He smiled back. "Yes. Make sure your mother and brother are all right."

She nodded and stepped aside so he could pass her. Snow was right behind him, the diaper bag hooked over her shoulder and a fussy little squirt in her arms. "We're all right," Snow said, smiling in relief at Emma as she stepped back on deck, "though the sooner we get this little guy into his car seat, the better."

Little Neal didn't like thunderstorms. His entire family had learned that the hard way when a recent storm rolled through in the middle of the night.

"You all did a wonderful job staying ahead of the storm," Snow continued as Emma took the diaper bag for her.

"How was the ride down there?" Emma asked, the two of them crossing the rocking deck as swiftly as they dared.

"A little bumpy but nothing we couldn't handle. How about up here?"

Emma smiled. "The same."

By the time Emma and Snow got to the truck, David had already secured the cooler and drawn the tarp over it. The wind was blowing pretty heavily now, and it kept annoyingly blowing Emma's hair into her eyes. She longed to climb into the truck and …

Oh, _shit_.

The truck. They'd taken the _truck_.

They'd taken the truck because Henry and Killian had gone ahead of them. They'd taken the truck because the three of them and Neal had been able to fit and the truck's bed had provided more than enough room for the cooler and the bags.

They'd taken the truck … which was not at all going to seat all six of them.

" _Shit_ ," she muttered aloud.

Henry and Killian had approached just in time to hear that. "What's the matter?" Henry asked.

Snow got it before Emma could say anything. "We're not all going to fit in the truck."

Henry wasted no time in offering, "I can ride in the back–"

 _Oh_ , no. "No, you can't," Emma said in a voice that brooked no dissent. "Get in the truck with your grandparents and Neal."

"What about you and Hook?" David asked. It was quite obvious that he was not at all about to listen to a plan that involved leaving them behind in a mounting storm.

Which was exactly what Emma wanted him to do because she had a plan. It was a plan she couldn't be sure would work but it was a plan nonetheless. "We'll be fine," she assured her father. "I want to try something."

He stared at her for a beat before he got it. Then, with a proud little smile, he said, "If you're not home by the time we are, I'm going back out to look for you."

She smiled back. She hadn't expected anything less.

As her family all piled into the truck, Emma turned to Killian and arched an eyebrow at him. "Are you ready?"

"I know what you plan to do, love."

"My question still stands."

He reached down and took her hand, threading their fingers together. "Aye."

Smiling, she shut her eyes and focused on her magic, calling to it, waking it up from where it resided within her. The butterflies flitted in her stomach and the warmth began to spread, slowly at first and then building to a rush that carried it all the way to her fingers and toes.

When the warmth was at just the right temperature, she went for it. She opened her eyes just as a swath of white light enveloped them. She felt weightless for the briefest of moments, felt Killian's hand tighten around hers in response to his own moment of weightlessness. And then the light dissipated and she and Killian were standing in the middle of her living room.

Emma smiled to herself. She'd finally managed her first successful poof. Though she did wonder how the hell Regina poofed herself here and there without feeling like she needed to hurl. This was like seasickness times ten. Maybe – hopefully – the nausea would fade with more practice.

For a breathless moment, the only sound in the room was the light tapping of the just-starting rain at the windows. Then Killian grinned at her. "That was bloody amazing, Swan."

Emma grinned back. "I say when my family comes in, we ask them what the hell took them so long."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** First things first: hiatus is almost officially over! We made it, guys! I don't know about you, but this hiatus was brutal for me and I'm so glad it's winding down. Second things second: with this chapter, this story has officially come to an end. I hope you all enjoyed, and thanks for being the best readers a girl could ask for. You guys rock.

* * *

"How much time do we have before your family returns?" Killian asked Emma.

The two of them were still standing smack in the middle of the living room, trying to reorient themselves after their magical journey from the marina. Thankfully, Emma's nausea had finally subsided. In fact, the rush that typically followed particularly arduous uses of her magic had started kicking in.

It was precisely this rush that made her grin at her pirate. "Not long, which means we need to hurry." She caught a glimpse of the confusion clouding his features just before she leaned in for the kiss.

He hesitated for the briefest of moments, his confusion turning to surprise. And then he was kissing her back, pressing his lips against hers .

The kiss was simultaneously tender and exploring. His thumb brushed along her cheek as she buried her fingers in his hair. The sound of the rain tapping at the windows faded as the two of them focused solely on each other.

Just as Emma's head was starting to spin, baby cries filtered into the room from the hallway outside and startled them back to reality. They both pulled apart at the same time, out of breath and blinking as they crashed back down to earth. " _Damn_ it," Emma muttered.

Killian smiled sheepishly, his cheeks flushed from both the kiss and its sudden stop. "If it's all the same to you, love, I'm quite glad your young brother announced his presence and saved us the awkward greeting with your family."

Point to Killian. "Yeah, okay, I'll give the squirt that."

Less than a second later, they heard the key turning in the deadbolt and then the door opened, revealing the rest of Emma's family. Henry was chattering on about some video game as he shifted the diaper bag and the beach tote hooked over each of his shoulders while David lugged the cooler inside and listened as intently as he could to his grandson. Snow carried the car seat and was attempting to settle a crying squirt with soft murmurs of, "Shh. I know, baby, I know."

Just as Snow closed the door behind everyone, there was a loud whip-crack of thunder and the rain came pouring down in sheets.

Emma jumped at the sound of the thunder. "Holy shit," she muttered just as poor little Neal started to wail.

"Looks like we made it just in time!" Snow exclaimed as she made her way over to the kitchen table. She set the car seat down on the table to remove her scared infant from its confines.

"Looks like," David agreed. He began unpacking the cooler while Henry took the bags upstairs to the loft.

"I'm going to go help the lad sort out all the detritus from our day at sea, love," Killian murmured to Emma.

She smiled up at him gratefully. It was only a tote and a diaper bag but the two of them would make quick work of the unpacking and putting away. As Killian disappeared up the stairs, Emma stepped over to her mother and baby brother. It definitely sounded like the squirt needed her magic touch.

The funny thing was, the magic touch wasn't even really magic. It was just a simple comforting caress of his little forehead but for some reason, it worked the fastest when Emma did it.

At Emma's approach, Snow, who was now cradling her crying son in her arms, sent her daughter a relieved smile. Emma smiled back before focusing on her baby brother. She gently ran her index finger down his forehead, from his hairline down to the bridge of his little nose, and whispered, "Shh. Shh."

The wailing stopped after two swipes. Three more swipes and Neal's whimpers had faded to little sniffles. His teary blue eyes locked on his big sister's green ones. "There we go, squirt," Emma murmured, smiling down at him. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

His flung his little hand towards her, his fingers brushing through the ends of her hair. Her heart melted into a little puddle right then and there, and she couldn't resist bending down to kiss his tiny, precious forehead.

As she stood up straight, she caught the love and pride shining in both her parents' eyes at the loving connection between their children. That oh-so-familiar conflict rose within Emma: part of her basked in that love and pride and part of her feared the _moment_ that was about to arise.

Thankfully that _moment_ never had the chance to get off the ground. Just as David closed the cabinet after putting the last of the uneaten food away, Henry and Killian came back down from the loft, thereby heading any _moments_ off at the pass.

Then Henry asked a most important question: " _Now_ what?"

Now what, indeed. Funny how a few hours ago, the heat was oppressive and they were all sweltering and miserable. Now a storm was raging outside, a storm with heavy rain and flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. The sun was hidden behind the dark clouds, leaving a distinct chill in the air that suggested the humidity from that morning was long gone. "Weather like this always makes me want to curl up on the couch under a blanket and watch movies."

Emma hadn't realized she'd actually said that out loud until Henry's eyes lit up in excitement. "That's a _great_ idea! We can make popcorn and everything."

She opened her mouth to say that she hadn't exactly been making a suggestion but closed it when she spotted the smiles on her parents' faces. Okay, so apparently they were game. She arched a questioning eyebrow at Killian, who sent her a smile. "We can see what's on the Netflix," he said, punctuating his agreement with a little proud nod as if to say, _See, Swan? I know a bit about your world's technology._

God, he was _such_ a dork.

Still, with his approval, it looked like their day on the ocean was about to officially morph into a family movie afternoon. "All right, fine," she said, making it unanimous.

"Yes!" Henry exclaimed.

He and David took off to make the popcorn – David made the best stove-top popcorn of pretty much everyone Emma had ever met – and Emma and Killian started rearranging the living room furniture for movie time. At Snow's instruction, they shifted the arm chair and a couple of kitchen chairs to either side of the sofa. Emma set the quilt on the floor in front of the couch; Henry usually settled on the floor so he could stretch out.

"Are you two feeling all right from your trip home?" Snow asked as she rocked an exhausted-from-crying Neal, who was fighting his impending nap with everything his little self was worth.

Warmth flooded Emma at the pride in her mother's eyes. "Yeah, we're okay. It's a weird feeling, though. I don't think I'm going to make a habit of it."

Not yet, anyway. Killian nodded his head in agreement.

Snow cupped Emma's cheek in her palm and smiled. Emma's breath hitched in her throat at both the gesture and the pure adoration on Snow's face.

She'd waited so long to have someone – her _mother_ – look at her like that. She'd waited so long and now … now she finally had it.

The tender moment passed, and Snow excused herself to get Neal settled down for his nap. Emma and Killian plopped down on the couch together and began searching for a movie for the family to watch.

Of course, with no real direction, the search proved a little difficult. Emma didn't really know what she was in the mood for and since he'd seen all of two movies in all his many centuries, Killian was obviously going to be no help.

Thankfully her kid came to the rescue this time. "Mom, you know what movie we should watch?" Henry said from the stove.

"What?"

" _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_."

She blinked at him. That was … random. "Why?"

"I've never seen it."

Emma raised her eyebrows. He'd never seen it? Her poor kid hadn't _lived_. She checked and it was indeed available. "Well guess what, kid. That streak? Ends today."

Henry grinned a thank you.

Soon the air in the apartment smelled warmly of popcorn and hot butter. Snow returned from the bedroom and settled in the arm chair next to Emma. "I heard _Roger Rabbit_ is on tap today."

"You heard correctly," Emma nodded. "Does that work for you?"

"Yes indeed."

"What is this _Roger Rabbit_ , Swan?"

Right, of course. This wasn't one of the two movies Killian had seen. "It's a detective story where this guy tries to solve a murder because someone's framed this cartoon rabbit named Roger for it." Once glance at his face proved Emma was already losing him. She'd explained once that cartoons were drawings and he was clearly having a hard time figuring out how drawings and real people could possibly interact. Smiling, she said, "Just watch. You'll see."

"More 'movie magic?'" he asked. She'd explained special effects, too.

"Yep."

Henry and David returned then with two bowls of popcorn. David eased down on one of the kitchen chairs and Henry, true to form, settled himself on the floor at Emma's feet.

Emma started the movie and made herself comfortable on the couch with Killian, tucking herself up against his side. He automatically draped his right arm around her shoulders, his fingers tracing light lines on her upper arm. "Thank you for everything today, Killian," she said softly, smiling up at her pirate. "We all had a really nice time."

"It was my pleasure, love." His eyes traveled the room before once again settling on her. "Thank you for having me."

The deeper meaning of his words were not lost on her. Her family was becoming his family … and he was just as thrilled as she was to finally have a family of his own after so many years without one. "That was _our_ pleasure," she smiled.

As the two of them began to get drawn into the movie, Emma slouched further into Killian and rested her head on his shoulder. God, she could get used to this. She'd spent a good deal of time this morning just tucked against him, too, her head on his shoulder and her eyes closed …

Wait a second. When she'd woken up from her impromptu nap on the boat, she was sitting with her parents but hadn't she fallen asleep next to Killian?

No, not _next_ to Killian. _On_ him. On his shoulder, to be precise.

She abruptly sat up straight, her cheeks burning. A startled Killian looked down at her in concern. After a moment, a teasing grin spread across his lips as he somehow figured out the source of her embarrassment – "something of an open book" and all that. "I make a good pillow, don't I, love?"

"Shut up," she groaned, much to her family's amusement.

Still, she couldn't deny how comfortable his shoulder was so after a few stubborn minutes of sitting up straight, she once again reclaimed her previous position. "Gross," Henry teasingly muttered at the PDA.

Snow and David just shared a smile that Emma didn't even want to interpret.

And after a couple more minutes, it suddenly struck Emma how _lucky_ she was. Here she sat with her pirate next to her, her parents on either side, and her kid at her feet. Her baby brother was just in the next room, napping peacefully. She had spent so much of her life alone and now here she was, surrounded by love.

Surrounded by family, family that wasn't going to go anywhere.

And she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the little orphan she had been was no longer. That lost little girl had finally found what she'd always wanted: a forever home.


End file.
